Hinge construction



April i955 M. N. ANDERSON 2,706,307

HINGE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 19, 1953 H I" lln BY 7 7,4 %/M%% mm MM United States Patent HINGE CONSTRUCTION Marshall N. Anderson, Grayslake, Ill., assignor to Sellstrom Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application January 19, 1953, Serial No. 332,003

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-145) This invention relates to a hinge construction and more particularly to such a construction wherein one of the hingedly connected members is adapted to normally assume a terminal position of pivotal adjustment relative to the other hingedly connected member.

Various hinge constructions of this type have heretofore been proposed which are of such design that one of the hingedly connected members may not be readily pivoted relative to the other hingedly connected member from a normal position of pivotal adjustment. Furthermore the biasing means incorporated in these prior hinge constructions are generally exposed to dirt and dust and are readily susceptible to being accidentally damaged or knocked out of adjustment. The costliness, bulkiness, and complexity of numerous prior hinge constructions have limited, to a marked degree, the use of these hinge constructions.

Thus it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a hinge construction wherein one of the hingedly connected members is adapted to normally assume a terminal position of pivotal adjustment relative to the other hingedly connected member and will remain in said normal position under ordinary circumstances but may be readily moved from its normal position with but a minimum amount of manual force being applied thereto.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hinge construction which is simple, durable, and compact in design, effective in operation, may be readily assembled or disassembled when desired, and is inexpensive to produce.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, a hinge construction is provided comprising a first member having a pair of spaced bearing lugs mounted thereon, a second member having a portion thereof disposed intermediate said bearings lugs, said first and second members being hingedly connected together for move ment between two terminal positions about a common axis, and biasing means having a portion thereof yieldably engaging said first member and a second portion yieldably engaging said second member to cause said members to normally assume a terminal position.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should be made to the drawings wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 are side elevational views of a frame unit incorporating the improved hinge construction, and respectively showing one of the hingedly connected members in two relative positions of pivotal adjustment;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the frame unit and showing the improved hinge construction in section as taken along line 3-3 of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of only one of the hingedly connected members of the frame unit;

Figs. 5 through 7 are fragmentary side elevational views of the improved hinged construction shown partly in section and respectively showing one of the hingedly connected members in three relative positions of pivotal adjustment;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the hingedly connected members and the biasing means forming a part of the improved hinge construction, said member and biasing means being shown in exploded relation; and

Fig. 9 is an end view of the biasing means, alone.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly 2,706,307 Patented Apr. 19, 1955 ICC to Figs. 1 through 4, a frame unit 10 is shown, which, in this instance, is of a type adapted to be mounted on the protective mask of a welders helmet, not shown. It is to be understood, of course, that the hinge construction, which is the subject matter of this invention, is not to be limited to a frame unit of the particular type shown. The frame unit 10, as shown in the drawing, comprises a pair of apertured front and back sections 11 and 12, respectively, hingedly connected together along corresponding edges at one side of the unit. The apertures 13 formed in the sections 11 and 12 are of substantially the same configuration and the two apertures are adapted to be disposed in coincident relation when the front section 11 is in a terminal closed position A with with respect to back section 12, as shown in Fig. 1. Front section 11 is adapted to carry a lens, not shown, in overlying relation with respect to the aperture formed therein. The lens carried by section 11 may be in the form of a smoked glass panel, which is adapted to prevent the harmful light rays which result during a welding operation from passing through the frame apertures and adversely affecting the eyes of the person wearing the welders mask. Back section 12, on the other hand, is adapted to carry in overlying relation with respect to the aperture formed therein a lens formed of transparent material such as clear plastic or glass. If so desired, the lens carried by the back section 12 may be omitted so that the operator may have a direct, unobstructed view of the work, when the front section 11 is in its terminal fully opened position B, as seen in Fig. 2.

The improved hinge construction, as seen more clearly in Figs. 3 through 8 comprises a pair of bearing lugs or units 14a and 14b which are disposed in spaced relation with respect to one another and which, in this instance, are formed along the upper edge of the relatively fixed frame section 12. Adapted to be positioned within the space 16 formed between bearing lugs 14a and 14b is a lug 15 which is integral with the upper edge of movable frame section 12. The width and axial length of the lug 15 is such as to substantially fill the space between the lugs 14a and 14b. Bearing lugs of the same construction as lugs 14a; 14b, and 15, heretofore described, are formed on sections 12 and 11, respectively, at the other side of the device, but are not shown in the drawings.

Bearing lugs 14a and 14b are each provided with a center aperture 17 which is axially aligned with the center aperture formed in the other lug. The lug 15 of front section 11 is provided with an elongated center bore 18 which is adapted to align with apertures 17 in lugs 14a and 14b. A pintle 19 is inserted through apertures 17 and bore 18 about which front section 11 pivots.

Back section 12 has formed therein, between the lugs 14a and 14b, a pocket or recess 20. The base or blind end 21 of the pocket has a substantially U-shaped slot 22 formed therein, see Fig. 4. The center portion 22a of the slot is substantially straight and extends transversely across substantially the full width of the pocket 20. The function of the pocket 20 and the slot 22 will bFcome evident from the disclosure to be given herein- .a ter.

Lug 15, as seen more clearly in Fig. 8, is provided with an elongated peripheral groove 23 which extends in a direction parallel to the axis of the center bore 18. The portions 23a of the lug 15, adjacent the ends of the groove 23 are cut back or recessed a little, as seen more clearly in Fig. 8. The grooved peripheral portion of the Lug 15 is concealed within the pocket 20 when the hinge construction is in assembled relation. As in the case of slot 22 and pocket 20, the function of the groove 23 will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter.

As heretfore mentioned, the hinge construction, which is the subject matter of this invention, enables the movable front section 11 of the frame unit 10 to normally assume either a closed or fully open terminal position A or B, respectively, with respect to the back section 12.

To produce the desired result, it is necessary that a seated within groove 23 formed in lug 15. The grooved peripheral portion of lug 15 is concealed at all times within the pocket 20 regardless of the relative position of pivotal adjustment of the front section 11, see Figs. through 7.

The spring 24 is formed, in this instance, of resilient wire material which is bent to form a body having a shape resembling somewhat the numeral eight. One end 25 of the body is relatively straight and is adapted to engage the portion 22a of U-shaped slot 22 formed in base 21 of the pocket 20. The end portions 22b of the slot 22 are provided so as to prevent any binding of the spring 24 upon the front section 11 moving between positions A and B. The opposite end 26 of the spring body is substantially straight and the angularly disposed end segments 26a thereof are offset with respect to the center portion 27 of the body, so that the end 26 and the end segments 26a form a plane which, in turn, is in coplanar relation with the opposite substantially straight end 25. The end 26 of the spring 24 is adapted to be disposed within the grove 23, and the end segments 26a are adapted to be positioned within the recesses 23a formed in the periphery of lug 15. The center portion 27 of the spring body constitutes the crossed portion of the numeral eight. As seen in Fig. 8, the center portion 27 is bowed or offset in one direction relative to the plane formed by the ends 25 and 26 and end segments 26a. The effect of offsetting the spring body is that the spring 24 acts as a toggle when the frame member 11 is moved between positions A and B. In passing from either one of these positions, the end 26 of the spring is moved from a position at one side of dead center to the other and the force of the spring serves to yieldingly hold the frame member 11 in either of its positions A or B. The compressive eifect of lug 15 on spring 24, when section 11 pivots relative to section 12, is seen more clearly in Figs. 5 through 7. Due to the resiliency of the spring 24 and the fact that the spring is under less compressive force when the section 11 is in either position A or B, the spring causes section 11 to normally assume either position A or position B. Only a relatively small amount of manual eifort is required to overcome the resiliency of the spring 24 so as to move the frame section 11 from one terminal position to the other. However, under normal use of the frame unit 10, the spring 24 is of sufiicient resiliency that it will retain section 11 in one of its normal terminal positions.

The cooperative relation between lug 15 and biasing spring 24 may be considered akin to that of a toggle having one leg thereof (the portion of lug 15 disposed between bore 18 and groove 23) of a fixed dimension and the other leg thereof (spring 24) being resilient or of a variable dimension. The floating joint of such a toggle may be considered as including groove 23 formed in the periphery of lug 15 and the end 26 of spring 24 which seats therein when the hinge is in assembled relation. The resilient leg of the toggle is in a state of greatest compression when the floating joint is at a dead center position, as seen more clearly in Fig. 6. By reason of the resilient character of one of the legs of the toggle (spring 24), as the section 12 is moved from position A to position B or vice versa, the floating joint of the toggle will be moved into and beyond dead center, and said resilient leg will cause section 12 to be snapped into one or the other of said positions.

Thus it will be seen that a hinge construction has been provided which is adapted to cause the hingedly connected members to normally assume a terminal position of pivotal adjustment with respect to one another, and also allows the hingedly connected members to be readily moved relative to one another with but a minimum amount of manual effort. Furthermore, the improved hinge construction is simple and compact in design and has the biasing means therefor concealed within one of the hingedly connected members thereby preventing dust or dirt from adversely affecting its operation and also protects the spring from the possibility of being accidentally damaged or knocked out of adjustment.

While a particular embodiment of this invention is shown above, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A hinge construction comprising a first member provided with an open end pocket and a pair of spaced substantially parallel bearing elements protruding from the open end of said pocket, a second member disposed intermediate said elements and hingedly connected thereto for relative movement between two terminal positions, said second member having a segment thereof projecting into said open end pocket, a peripheral portion of said segment adjacent the base of said pocket being provided with an elongated groove spaced from and disposed substantially parallel to the hinge axis, and a bent wire spring disposed wholly within said pocket for yieldably retaining said second member in one of said terminal positions, said spring having a first end portion thereof contacting the base of said pocket and being disposed within an elongated slot formed therein, a second end portion disposed within said elongated groove, and a resilient third portion thereof interconnecting and being integral with said first and second portions whereby said latter portions may move toward and away from each other, said spring pivoting as a unit about the first portion as an axis upon relative movement of said second member from one terminal position to the other.

2. A hinge construction comprising a first member provided with an open end pocket and a pair of spaced substantially parallel bearing elements protruding from the open end of said pocket, a second member disposed intermediate said elements and hingedly connected thereto for relative movement between two terminal positions, the peripheral portion of said second member adjacent the base of said pocket being provided with a substantially H-shaped groove the cross portion of which is spaced from and disposed substantially parallel to the hinge axis, and a bent wire spring disposed within said pocket for yieldably retaining said second member in one of said terminal positions, said spring having a first end portion contacting the base of said pocket and being disposed within a slot formed therein, a second end portion disposed within said H-shaped groove, and a resilient nonrectilinear third portion interconnecting and being integral with said first and second portions whereby said latter portions may move toward and away from each other, said spring pivoting as a unit about the first portion as an axis upon relative movement of said second member from one terminal position to the other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 667,023 Larsen Jan. 29, 1901 783,410 Bergofi Feb. 28, 1905 1,292,725 Dexter Jan. 28, 1929 2,490,060 Jacobson Dec. 6, 1949 2,604,315 Patterson July 22, 1952 

